Baptized and raised as a Roman Catholic in a very Roman Catholic city there is much about that life of that church that I still find compelling. In fact, some of the most stimulating reading I am doing these days is coming from Roman Catholic theologians - radical new visions of the universal faith!
I know I still carry around the baggage of the church that excluded my parents from the Lord's Supper - another instance of traditional hierarchy ruling over love. I know I still find it hard to visit Rome and witness the opulence that cost common people their lives for the sake of creating an empire. Yes, I have baggage.
Let me also acknowledge my difficulty with sainthood. By this I mean the sainthood that must go through the official process that moves a person from that of being an ordinary, beloved, sainted, child of God to one that become shrine-worthy. Though Mother Theresa is the latest one who has been canonized, I have nothing against her work - her dedication - her lifelong vigil at the side of the poorest among us. For me, she has been a saint all along the way. In many ways - unbelievably giving within a world of grasping - eternally touching in a world that seeks separation. To have people who follow the way of Jesus right in the middle of the world in which we live will make us turn our heads so that we can witness that life among us. That is a powerful witness - saints alive!
Saint are those who follow the way of Jesus, yet before that, they are those called beloved - which, for me, means they may not be Christian. It is the name calling that makes saints come to life among us. Therefore, Mother Theresa did not need to be canonized and fulfill a strange system of verifying her sainthood. She was for us a beloved child of God who lived as though it was part of her character - and it was amazing for us to see it. There is no need for her saintly life to be verified by miracles - you know, miracles. The miracles were present with each touch - bam. The miracles were present whenever she showed one of her sisters how to sit and listen and touch - bam. The miracles were present when she wrote of love and service that was being actualized - bam. Don't give me the argument that there needs to be proof of two miracles in her life. She was moved into a miraculous life every day.
I know the importance of saints for the welfare of the larger church. They were and they are an avenue for revenue. I've been to shrines. I seen faithful folks gather around sites that are registered as places of miraculous moments of those beloved who have been enshrined. Often they are sites that contrast greatly from the humility and service and sacrifice of the canonized.
For me, shrines have become lives that remind me of life given and shed for others. Therefore, it is still good and proper to remember folks like Mother Theresa - for as we remember her - our lives may begin to find worth in such a journey as that - even a journey we will enter into this day. Alongside such a saint as her are also the saints unknown - those who have not been officially canonized - those who did not pass a test of miracles - those whose lives did not have worldwide recognition. You know them - you have been touched by them - you have heard their voices - you have seen them bow and bend - you have seen grace in action and love unveiled.
What if we displayed icons of the saints of our lives around us? Seriously. Instead of putting up the picture of ancient ones - as though they are quite different than us - put up the faces of those we know and place them in the middle of works of iconography that show their gifts to us all. Wow. In my mind I have those saints - they are ordinary, everyday folks who have touched me and led me and held me and sent me - they make me smile - they come to light when I need courage - they whisper in my ear when I need to speak words I too often let sit in the back of my head - they shake me up so that I will stand up to resist acts of brutality or injustice or violence. Don't get me wrong - those saints who do this to me are both those of old and those of today. And for me, their lives have been miraculous gifts to me - and others.
TRRR
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